No Paw to Stand On by Laurie Cass

Author:Laurie Cass [Cass, Laurie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2024-08-06T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

I had a hard time sleeping that night. Whenever I shut my eyes, I’d start seeing the blue handle of a big knife. Then I’d open my eyes and be wide awake. Then I’d reach for my e-reader and read until I fell asleep and it dropped to the floor, the noise of which would wake me up. Then I’d take a long, calming breath and consciously try to relax every muscle in my body, starting with my toes. When I got to my eyes, I’d shut them. Then I’d see the handle of that knife and the cycle would start all over again.

My phone’s alarm didn’t wake me as much as it alerted me that my purgatory was over. With a fatigued sense of relief, I showered and dressed, and it was when I was staring at my oatmeal, eyes bleary and mind fuzzy, that the real reason for my poor sleep occurred to me.

“I’m worried,” I said out loud. Rafe had already left the house, so I was talking to Eddie, but he had the capacity to be a better listener than my fiancé, who tended to get distracted by anything shiny, including, but not limited to, sports, the laughter of other people, the noise of power tools, or the smell of hamburgers on the grill.

Then again, that same list—outside of the sports item—was equally distracting for my cat. Eddie, however, was currently fitting himself onto the kitchen windowsill that overlooked the backyard. It was a windowsill that wasn’t big enough for an Eddie-size cat, and parts of him overflowed, but he happily spent hours there, so he couldn’t have been too uncomfortable.

He also looked as if his attention was completely on the robin that was hopping around the lawn, so I cleared my throat loudly.

“Like I said, I’m worried. That’s probably why I didn’t sleep for beans last night after talking with Kristen. I’m worried about her. And Sabrina. And Carol. And Reva and Isabella and Misty and Corey and the guys at Fat Boys and everywhere else in town. What if some nutjob really is targeting Chilson’s restaurant workers?”

Said out loud, it sounded ridiculous, so I was glad Rafe was gone. Eddie might criticize me about many things, but his cat brain wasn’t interested in the abstract questions I posed when thinking out loud about criminal theories.

“Mrr,” Eddie said, looking at me with steady yellow eyes.

“Yes, I know it sounds stupid, but my dreams came from somewhere. Manifestations of whatever is on your mind, right?” I paused. What did cats dream about? I was pretty sure they did dream, because I’d seen Eddie when he was snoring the snore of the just, his feet moving through the air as if he was in a super-slow-motion run.

“Anyway.” I got up and put my spoon and bowl into the dishwasher. “I’m worried about Kristen and all the others. Maybe worrying about a mass targeting of restaurant workers is dumb, but people do dumb things all the time. So I’m not going to stop investigating, no matter what Kristen says.

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